Electrical enclosures, such as, for example, load centers or panelboards, typically include a main housing with a hinged door. These enclosures are typically mounted on or in a wall (e.g., a wall in a building or house) and typically enclose one or more circuit breakers and/or related electrical accessories in a side-by-side relationship therein. Each of the circuit breakers includes an actuator or handle that protrudes away from a back-side of the enclosure towards the hinged door. This relationship provides access to the handles of each circuit breaker when the hinged door of the enclosure is opened such that an operator can manually operate the handles to switch the various circuit breakers on and/or off.
In some instances, the enclosure includes an exterior lever that is configured to actuate one or more of the circuit breakers within the enclosure without having to open the hinged door. As the handles of the circuit breakers are disposed adjacent to an inner surface of the hinged door when the door is in the closed position, the exterior lever is mounted to the outside surface of the hinged door. Thus, when the hinged door is opened, the exterior lever is moved with the door. This is known as a “door mounted lever” which must be designed to lineup with the handle(s) of the circuit breaker(s) inside of the enclosure, which can be difficult to achieve and maintain. For example, over time the alignment of the hinged door can change due to wear and tear and/or operating conditions, which can directly affect the alignment of the door mounted lever with the handle(s) of the circuit breaker(s) therein. This can lead to problems actuating the circuit breakers and/or problems with securing the door in a closed position.
Traditionally, the depth of the main housing of the enclosure is a function of the depth of the circuit breakers (measured between the handle side and the opposite side of the circuit breaker, see, e.g., depth, d, in FIG. 1B) installed therein when the circuit breakers are installed in the side-by-side fashion. Thus, the larger the depth of the circuit breaker, the larger the depth of the enclosure that is needed to accommodate such circuit breakers. Providing enclosures with relatively larger depths that protrude off the walls to which they are attached can be undesirable in some or most applications.
Thus, a need exists for an improved apparatus. The present disclosure is directed to satisfying one or more of these needs and solving other problems.